Joanna Phoenix
Born1964
Known forAcademic author and feminist researcher in criminology

Jo Phoenix (born 1964) is an author and professor of Criminology in the United Kingdom.[1][2][3] Phoenix writes about the policies and laws which surround various sexual activities, and the social conditions which underpin them. She is known for her gender critical views, having founded the Gender Critical Research Network, and has sued her employer after they refused to act when her colleagues subjected her to sustained harassment and bullying.[4]

Career

Phoenix has held academic posts as Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Middlesex from 1998 - 2000, at University of Bath until 2000 and a variety of posts at University of Durham until 2013 (Reader in Criminology, made Professor in 2010, Deputy Head of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health, Dean of Queens Campus) and Head of Law Department at University of Leicester.[5] She was Professor of Criminology at the Open University, before moving to University of Reading. Phoenix is a trustee of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies.[5]

Her research areas include sex, gender, sexualities, prostitution policy and the experience of women in prison. She has written two books, Making Sense of Prostitution[6] and Illegal and Illicit: Sex, Regulation and Social Control (with Susan Oerton). Phoenix edited Regulating Sex for Sale[7] and several articles and book chapters on the sex industry [8][9][10][7][11][12] and experiences of supporting transgender persons in the prison estate.[13]

Reviewers of her books describe "the paradox that cannot have escaped the attention of many readers in the field: that the apparent increase in freedom, choice, and diversity in sexual matters is conversely and simultaneously matched by a ‘proliferation of laws, policies and guidelines which seek to determine the complex, vast and ever-increasing rules of engagement".[14] Phoenix gave evidence to the UK Parliament regarding the multiple disadvantages that women experience in the criminal justice system, particularly working class women and women of colour. In relation to community-based punishments and services, she lobbied for continued provision of women-only, single sex spaces for women.[15]

Freedom of speech

She is one of the two academic speakers (along with Rosa Freedman) who received an apology from University of Essex in 2021 after their invitation to speak was withdrawn at short notice.[16][17][18] In November 2021, Phoenix welcomed legal action against the University of Essex, claiming its policies breach free speech legislation. The Free Speech Union, led by Toby Young, took the action.[19] An investigation found the decision to withdraw the invitation "amounted to a breach of Prof Phoenix's right to freedom of expression".[20]

In 2021 she began a process of suing the Open University (her employer) for not protecting her against harassment in the workplace.[4] She has stated that she hopes the "case will help to establish a line in the sand and make it clear that baseless accusations of transphobia simply for standing up for the rights of women is harassment especially when made in an academic context". She left the Open University to take up a professorial role at University of Reading in the School of Law.[21][22]

Gender Critical Research Network

In June 2021, Phoenix and Jon Pike (a researcher in Philosophy of Sport) [23] convened the Gender Critical Research Network (GCRN) at the Open University.[24] The network aims to "bring together a range of academics and scholars, all of which share a common interest in exploring how sexed bodies come to matter in their respective research fields and a common commitment to ensuring that a space within academia is kept open for those explorations".[25] Philosopher Kathleen Stock and Historian Selina Todd are members.[25]

The network was criticised in an open letter signed by 380 people, which called on the Open University to withhold support and funding.[26] The letter said the network was "hostile to the rights of trans people" and said that academic freedom should not be "at the expense of marginalised groups".[1] Phoenix has stated formally that she supports "the rights of trans individuals to be fully protected by the Equalities Act and welcome government reform of the Gender Recognition Act in ways that are sympathetic to their needs" but proposes that an individual’s right to identify as a particular gender should not be the basis upon which provision of criminal justice is based.[15]

The Open University's Vice-Chancellor's Executive found that "the formation of the GCRN was compatible with academic freedom, while also acknowledging that some staff found the content of the group's work to be challenging or concerning”[27] and undertook a review of its policies and procedures.

References

  1. 1 2 Woolcock, Nicola (4 December 2021). "Jo Phoenix, academic likened to racist for her trans views, resigns from Open University". The Times. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  2. ↑ "Author: Jo Phoenix". The Critic Magazine. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "The Open University". www.open.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  4. 1 2 Smith, Joan (4 November 2021). "'My colleague compared me to a racist uncle at the dinner table for my views on gender'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Professor Jo Phoenix | Centre for Crime and Justice Studies". www.crimeandjustice.org.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  6. ↑ Phoenix, Joanna (1999). Making sense of prostitution. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-22073-1. OCLC 40305629.
  7. 1 2 Regulating sex for sale : prostitution policy reform and the UK. Joanna Phoenix. Bristol, UK. 2009. ISBN 978-1-84742-107-4. OCLC 624173570.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ↑ Justice alternatives. Pat Carlen, Leandro Ayres França. Abingdon, Oxon. 2019. ISBN 978-0-429-88683-6. OCLC 1108871851.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. ↑ Child sexual exploitation : why theory matters. Jenny J. Pearce, Julia C. Davidson. Bristol, UK. 2019. ISBN 978-1-4473-5142-9. OCLC 1129867150.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. ↑ Phoenix, Jo (30 November 2018), Dewey, Susan; Crowhurst, Isabel; Izugbara, Chimaraoke (eds.), We Need To Talk About Youth Prostitution: A story about the demise of youth prostitution in England and Wales, New York: Routledge, pp. 230–241, doi:10.4324/9781351133913-22, ISBN 9781351133913, S2CID 150618062, retrieved 8 November 2021
  11. ↑ Phoenix, Joanna (2000). "Prostitute Identities". Rochester, NY. SSRN 1160593. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ↑ Phoenix, Joanna (2005). Illicit and illegal : sex, regulation, and social control. Sarah Oerton. Uffculme, Cullompton, Devon: Willan Pub. ISBN 978-1-134-01575-7. OCLC 607632011.
  13. ↑ RICCIARDELLI, ROSEMARY; PHOENIX, JO; GACEK, JAMES (13 February 2020). "'It's Complicated': Canadian Correctional Officer Recruits' Interpretations of Issues Relating to the Presence of Transgender Prisoners". The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice. 59 (1): 86–104. doi:10.1111/hojo.12354. ISSN 2059-1098. S2CID 213616833.
  14. ↑ Scoular, Jane (20 June 2011). "Publication Review of Illicit and Illegal". Rochester, NY. SSRN 1868187. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. 1 2 "Reform of the Gender Recognition Act". UK Parliament.
  16. ↑ Griffiths, Sian. "'The culture of fear on campus is real. People are afraid to speak out'". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  17. ↑ "Sacked or silenced: academics say they are blocked from exploring trans issues". The Guardian. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  18. ↑ "A backlash against gender ideology is starting in universities". The Economist. 5 June 2021. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  19. ↑ Turner, Camilla (26 November 2021). "Toby Young's free speech campaign takes on university for silencing gender-critical scholars". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  20. ↑ "University of Essex apologises to professor over trans-rights cancellation". BBC News. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  21. ↑ Sawer, Patrick; Southworth, Phoebe (3 December 2021). "Professor 'vilified' over accusations of transphobic views quits Open University". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  22. ↑ "University of Reading". University of Reading. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  23. ↑ "The Open University". www.open.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  24. ↑ "Gender Critical Research Network". The Open University. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  25. 1 2 Stock, Kathleen (17 June 2021). "The new network for gender-critical academics". The Critic. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  26. ↑ Sawer, Patrick (3 December 2021). "Professor 'vilified' over accusations of transphobic views quits Open University". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  27. ↑ "Update on actions taken following VC statement on GCRN and academic freedom". OU News. 10 November 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
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